Terra Rossa Cabernet Sauvignon, Parker Estate, Coonawarra 2015

This is an intense wine right from the get-go. Upon pouring just a small taster in my glass the dark, intense core is almost impenetrable to light, yet the brim looks bright and fresh with its pale pink hue.

There's a clean, sharp look to the wine, there's no sense that it's been resting in bottle for the better park of a decade, but that's exactly what we have in the glass.

The nose is a real feast, initially you're struck but deeply concentrated aromas of dark, rich, brambly fruit, roast coffee and spice. Then, and this is where the bottle age starts to sing, you take a more delicate intake of breath and subtle notes of leather, graphite, pencil shavings and a hint of sweet delicately smoky oak.

The palate again is one to be savoured, an initial swath of rich, ripe dark-berry fruit coulis surges across the palate, progressing to notes of clove, spice, coffee and dark chocolate seasoned by an herbaceous back drop.

Much like the aromatics, don't be to eager in rushing back for another taste, give the palate time to unfurl and you're rewarded with further complexity with leather, polished cedar, sweet spice and a silky smooth tannic grip, with dark fruit and warming oaky spice holding for an incredibly long time on the palate.

In summary... this is fine, perfectly-mature Australian cabernet sauvignon at its best, a real treat as an unaccompanied warming glass of red on a cool winter's eve, but certain to deliver much pleasure at the dinner table alongside a hearty roast and firmer cheeses where it may just steal the show.

James Russell-Grant | FromVineyardsDirect